Rangpur cleared to bid again, BPL-3 may see eight teams

Jannatul Naym Pieal

The Rangpur franchise is now cleared to bid for a team in the third edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), to be taken place later this year. The board president Nazmul Hassan Papon has recently confirmed that the above mentioned franchise, that owned the team called Rangpur Riders in BPL 2013, has cleared all their dues and now have no problem to go for a bid again.

“Among the old franchises, Rangpur have cleared their due amount,” Hassan said. “So now we are taking 12 enterprises under consideration for new franchise ownership. We will give them a letter on August 30 or September 1 to deposit to us Tk 1 crore (approx USD 100,000) as pay order and Tk 4.5 crore (USD 600,000) as bank guarantee, a total of Tk 5.5 crore.

“The bank guarantee amount is for players’ payment. There won’t be any more risk if we take the Tk 5.5 crore, both with local and foreign players. There won’t be problem similar to the last two editions.”

According to a latest report published in ESPNcricinfo, Rangpur’s due amount was around Tk 1.5 crore (USD 192,802). Flora Limited, which had bought the Rangpur franchise in December 2012, will join 11 new enterprises that submitted their expression of interest (EOI) on August 17. The next step for the BPL governing council will be to send a letter to the 12 interested parties by September 1, asking them to pay Tk 5.5 crore (approx USD 700,000).

The money will be divided into a pay order worth Tk 1 crore while the remaining Tk 4.5 crore will be a bank guarantee for player payment. There have been claims of players not getting their earnings on time in previous editions of the BPL and the BCB feels this arrangement keeps all parties well-looked after.

As per the report, Hassan also revealed their idea of taking eight teams in the BPL in 2015. He also added that paying the money would not guarantee a franchise. The new owners must show they are dedicated to the sport, and are not just looking at the BPL as “a business venture”.